The landscape has changed and performance management observations are no longer de rigeur. Instead, the world is awash with learning walks. These merry visits are now being used as the de facto method of measuring teacher performance and for schools to determine individual and global next steps. This does, however beg the question, what do leaders look for when they conduct a learning walk? This is particularly important within the current climate as these short classroom visits might be used to make summary judgments of a teachers quality and inform performance management reviews.
This post was inspired after a friend commented that his head teacher had scrapped PM observations. Instead, teachers would be graded through a series of learning walks. The intentions behind this new regime were noble enough; the use of a learning walk was less intense than a full observation and there was recognition that the time and stress that came with preparing a full observation would be reduced. Thankfully, it appears, the days of receiving a ring binder full of photocopying and resources for the sake of one lesson appear to have passed and a far more rational, considered approach has materialised. Additionally, everybody can have a bad day should we draw conclusions from a ‘one-off’ amongst an academic year forged from hundreds of lessons?
Nonetheless, the learning walks approach should be treated with caution as it is fraught with issues. These arise when you start to consider what it is that you are looking for in a learning walk, my experience is that they rarely last for more than ten minutes, yet important and complex assertions are made. It might then become regarded as a somewhat flippant method of regarding a professionals and colleagues work, leading to: distrust, lack of confidence in a school’s systems and consequently resentment. This is certainly the case when these learning walks are often conducted by non-subject specialists who are unlikely to have the expertise to acknowledge what excellent looks like, and whether this excellence reflects the requirements of a specification or syllabus. Additionally, are those that are conducting the learning walk aware that Ofsted no longer suggest or promote a preferred teaching method?
With this in mind I have a composed a short list of learning walk advisories:
- Always feed back what you saw – these are excellent coaching opportunities and the least that one might expect is a little advice, guidance or praise after being ‘walked’
- Have a clear agenda – let teachers know what it is that you are looking for. You can not see everything in the time that it take s to learning walk a colleague, however, it is an excellent method for establishing how successful new initiatives have been implemented
- Keep the criteria short and sweet – you can’t do everything at once and expect your findings to be robust
- Don’t use them as book looks – book looks/ work scrutinies are for this, walking around a classroom and delving into the work of a class is impractical and actually quite annoying for staff and students.
- Walk with the subject leader – they can provide advice and guidance as to what should be being taught, questions can be directed to them if it isn’t
- Do not make judgments based upon the teaching styles witnessed – data is the clearest indicator of the success of a teacher’s style, after all, Ofsted do not demonstrate a bias to any particular style of teaching, why should you?
- Perform them frequently and consistently – a culture where learning walks are normalised will ensure that students and teachers do not play-up for the ‘cameras’
- Do not address areas of concerns during the walk – we’d rather correct students in private, this should also be the case for teachers
- Leaders: know your specs – the more well-versed a leader is in the specifications, medium term plans and what student work should look like, the more likely that they can make relevant assertions
- Share excellence – if you see great, pass it on!
My NPQH 